Let’s Get This Party Started!

The beauty of this spring for Oilers fans came in the playoff experience. It meant we didn’t have to spend three months talking trades and draft, but it’s been 20 days since G7 versus Anaheim and time’s a wasting. Today George McPhee said his Vegas Golden Knights plan on announcing trades, possibly right after the NHL combine (Source: TSN).

McPhee talked about draft picks, adding to the seven already allotted to the expansion club. The Oilers don’t have their own second-round draft pick but have an extra third this year:

OILERS 2017 DRAFT PICKS

First Round: No. 22 overall

Third Round: No. 82 overall (FROM ST. LOUIS—this is payment for Nail Yakupov)

If the Golden Knights are going to announce trades next week, it’s likely that picks will be involved and we may see the return of a sports phrase that appeared hundreds of times in the 1970s and 1980s: “future considerations”. I don’t see the Oilers being a large player in terms of 2017 draft picks, but 2018 selections might be in play. There’s a (slight) chance we could see Edmonton trade a young prospect to LV before the expansion draft for a pick, while an underlying part of that deal could be an agreed upon expansion player who would be chosen during the formal portion of the draft.

OILERS EXITING?

We’ve been down this road so often the names are known by rote. If we ask ourselves what Vegas might be interested in (aside from draft picks), I think the answers are three-fold:

Useful roster players for next season

Useful roster players for next season and beyond

Young players who are not vulnerable to waivers

Useful roster players might include overpriced veterans like Benoit Pouliot and Mark Fayne, and that acquisition might be accompanied by a sweetener (draft pick or prospect). It’s also possible the Golden Knights will ask after a player who is not available via the expansion draft (Anton Slepyshev, Ziyat Paigin, et cetera), and that would qualify under the third category.

EDMONTON’S SHOPPING LIST

One other item we should be on the lookout for is Vegas drafting a player and flipping him to Edmonton. The Florida Panthers, as an example, have three righty defensemen (Jason Demers, Alex Petrovic, Mark Pysyk) and all three would be of some interest to the Oilers. Although the timeline for such a trade would have to wait for Florida’s final list (the Panthers are no doubt trying to make a deal to get value now) it does show how many options are available in this expansion window.

FINALLY

George McPhee’s pick from the Oilers? I still think it’ll be Griffin Reinhart, but other options are out there, including Laurent Brossoit. I wonder if it might benefit Peter Chiarelli to make a trade for another goalie with similar resume. Idea being even if one goalie goes, Edmonton is still covered. If no goalie is chosen, the Oilers have a trade chip to send away over the rest of the summer.

Note: Pierre Lebrun of TSN interviewed Peter Chiarelli today, and he talked about several subjects including the expansion draft, Kris Russell and discussions with Vegas. The interview is here.

Chia talks of having to move salary to sign McDavid and Draisaitl . Forsee Oilers dealing Hopkins , as his 6M hit is the longest and Oilers do not seem able to keep him if he is resigned to third line status in near future . Eberle seems safe for now due to his contract being only 2 more years . What might Chia offer to have Vegas take Pouliot ?

I like Sekera right now and for the next 2 seasons, but I could see him getting traded in the summer of 2019, when his NMC becomes a Modified NMC and he can list 15 teams he would allow himself to be traded to. The left side future in 2 years may be Klefbom, Nurse and one of Reinhart, Paigin, Jones, Simpson, Lagesson. If 1 of them surpass Sekera, or even just Nurse surpasses Sekera, making his 5.5M cap hit absurd for 3rd pairing, then he could get traded. So maybe they should keep one or both of Jones and Paigin (assuming Reinhart is gone soon), who have the highest ceilings of the left side prospects. And right side future may be Larsson, Benning, Bear, Mantha, Berglund. Maybe they add Conor Timmins to that at #22 this summer.

Time to hone in on Hopkins . Good enough player, but contract amount and longevity does not add up to a very good return on investment for the Oilers anymore . Production vs. cost in a cap world . I do not think Oilers require a 3rd line center to make 6M to be successful in the future – hard to justify .

I think Peter C. will sign Russell if they can agree on a short term and small-ish salary. If it doesn’t get done, I expect Peter to go the opposite way and trade for an NHL D-man around the same age as our current D-core (~24y old), who is not simply a place holder, but a true 2nd pair guy (Hamonic comes to mind). This would be very costly and a very valuable player would be going the other way, but we have seen this scenario before with Larsson/Hall. With a few exciting prospects on D developing (Jones, Bear, possibly Paigan), it’s important to keep the roster positions occupied by players who belong in the spot they are taking up in the depth chart. Then, as a prospect develops and becomes ready, you can trade an established D (very valuable/good return) to make room for the fresh talent without crippling your D-core. This is what Detroit did for so long with such great success. I call it dynamic core management.